Iris Mobile, a leader in mobile marketing strategy, has secured $3M in a Series A led by Chicago-based Origin Ventures. Iris Mobile is a pioneer in Rich Media Messaging which enables retailers to go beyond a simple 160 character text by sending richer content…

Today, as part of the implementation of the JOBS Act, the SEC officially lifted the ban on general solicitation, allowing startups to publicly announce that they are raising funding. In blog posts, online profiles, videos, and mass emails, you may now start to see…

This week, family-oriented startup Moonfrye launched its first product. Also called Moonfrye, the free iOS photo app aims to help kids get creative with photos. Moonfrye was founded by Soleil Moon Frye, of Eighties sitcom “Punky Brewster” fame, along with Kara …

The State of Ohio has taken the first step in taking down a pioneering crowdfunding site but could also be critically wounding the State’s growing entrepreneurial clout. In balancing the interests of both startups and investors, Ohio is making it clear that investor …

Today, Microsoft announced the creation of Microsoft Ventures, which aggregates and expands on some of its existing programs for startups. Since 2008, Microsoft BizSpark programs have provided resources to over 75,000 startups. Microsoft started opening accelerators in 2011, …

Salesforce.com and ExactTarget today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Salesforce.com will acquire ExactTarget in a transaction valued at $2.5 billion. This acquisition will further Salesforce.com’s mission to be a world-leading CRM platform by …

Today, Yahoo! announced that it agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. From the press release: “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and …

Ecomom – the startup whose CEO, Jody Sherman, committed suicide in January – today announced that it was acquired by etailz, maker of GreenCupboards. Ecomom had told investors it was shutting down in February due to financial troubles. Now, etailz says it will be…

Today, Y Combinator graduate Firebase launched Firepad, which lets developers add collaborative document editing to their apps with a bit of JavaScript. This open-source tool is already used by Atlassian and Socrates. Similar to Google Docs and Treaty, Firepad has the advantage …

Building robots from the Ogden luxury apartment building in downtown Las Vegas, Romotive has been a poster child for the VegasTech movement and one of the first VegasTechFund-funded companies. Today, they announced they will be moving their company from Las Vegas to San …

DeveloperAuction, the site where developers can auction themselves off to venture-backed startups, today announced $2.7 million in funding led by NEA and Sierra Ventures. The company was founded by Matt Mickiewicz, the founder of 99designs, along with Douglas Feirstein and Allan …

Today, leaders in the tech industry launched the March for Innovation, a virtual “march” – in essence, an online campaign – to encourage US politicians to make immigration policies more open to skilled workers. They support visas for startup founders and …

Hearst Corporation’s venture arm, Hearst Ventures, is making a minority equity investment in Science Inc, the Santa Monica, California tech startup creation studio. According to All Things D the deal is close to $30 million for a stake above 20 percent. “Hearst is …

Today, Excelerate Labs announced they have partnered with TechStars to rename the program TechStars Chicago. This is the first time that TechStars has partnered with an existing program in a new market as they usually create their own program from scratch as seen in New …

Foodspotting, the app that caught so many people’s attention for creating a new place to share all those photos of food that we are consuming, announced today on its blog that it has been acquired by OpenTable for $10 million. Since the launch of the app…